Trust
by TotalTownie
Summary: -EDITED- "Kagome, are you certain the shards are here?" "Yes! Just keep going straight on Inuya...Inuyas...Inu...ya...sha..." inukag implied.


**A/N: I once said I would never return to this but it's been bothering me for a while. Rereading it, I don't like the way I wrote it—in some cases, I could have used more sophisticated vocabulary, as my crazy-yet-well-meaning English teacher would say—so in order to satisfy myself, I've edited it.**

**Disclaimer: ****InuYasha does not belong to me.**

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**Trust**

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"_Kagome, are you certain the shards are here?"_

"_Yes! Just keep going straight on Inuya...Inuyas...Inu...Ya...sha..."_

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I blink blearily, face-to-face with dirt. What?

Gasping, I scramble onto my knees. The mist that surrounds me billows dreamily with each of my movements.

I don't remember InuYasha running into mist. I don't remember everyone suddenly fading away from me. I don't remember suddenly becoming alone.

Standing up shakily, I squeeze my eyes shut again, trying to recall what happened. I was on InuYasha's back, being my good ol' jewel sensor self. That sixth sense I've acquired suddenly went crazy, so I knew there were jewels nearby. I told InuYasha, he asked me if I was sure, I told him I was certain…

And now I'm here. Just my luck.

"InuYasha?"

No answer.

"Sango? Miroku?"

Nothing.

"Kirara? Shippo?" I ball my shivering hands into fists. "Somebody? Anybody?"

"It seems you are awake."

I stop my frantic calling and freeze. I know that voice. All my friends know and despise that voice.

"W-what do you want with me?" I curse the way my voice has risen in fear. "W-where are they? What have you done with my friends?"

Naraku laughs, a cruel laugh that makes a chill run down my spine and my skin crawl. "I'm sure they are asking the same about you, Kagome."

I dislike the use of my name, but I feel a rush of relief. _They're all together. They're okay. None of them are hurt._

"But," he continues, sounding as though he is coming closer; I back away from the direction of the voice, further into the mist. "They do not care about you."

"What are you saying Naraku?" I shoot at him, cursing once more, this time at the curiosity that has coloured my tone.

That laugh punctures the air around me, as if he knows something I don't. "Oh, come now, you _must_ know of their intentions...you _do_ don't you?"

"Stop playing games with me—''

"Sango," he interrupts me, and I stop at the mention of my best friend. "The girl's family was slaughtered-"

"That was your fault!"

He acts as if I didn't speak. "—and so she is only with you for revenge. She thinks nothing of your so called friendship."

Those words hurt me, and even though I know he's talking total trash, my mind begins to process his words as if they mean something. I wish I wasn't alone. I wish someone could snap me out of this...but I go on believing.

"Sango-chan doesn't—''

"Miroku," he starts the next part of his speech. "He is only with you for the riches he feels he can gain out of teaming up with you. He really wants to suck you into the wind tunnel in his hand. He also feels no real tie to you, Kagome."

"But that's also your fault!" I yell, tone full of insistence. "Miroku would never—''

He is clearly enjoying causing me pain. "Shippo is a small fox demon, need I say more? He wants protection, and wants the Shikon Jewel to become stronger. He needs you, not wants you, to fulfil this."

"No! Shippo is—"

"Almost a younger brother to you? Kagome, you are being deluded."

"But..." I feel so helpless, sinking back to the floor.

"And Inuyasha," he concludes, hate filling his voice. I tense, tears clouding my vision. "Do you think he truly loves you?"

"Stop this—''

"He loved Kikyou. You are nothing to him. He is lying to you, Kagome. You are nothing but a jewel detector to him."

_Sango...Miroku...Shippo...InuYasha…_I smile as I remember the occasion Sango trusted in me her crush on Miroku, and me in turn, mine on InuYasha. We were best friends before that, but it helped us bond more, I guess. She doesn't stay with us just for revenge.

I also remember Miroku talking to me about Sango. That was funny, but it helped me understand the guy a lot more. That was the time he showed me he isn't just the pervert that everyone takes him for. He doesn't want to suck me into the wind tunnel.

_Shippo..._Oh, this was an easy one! Shippo always comes to me when he's being picked on by InuYasha or when Miroku acts perverted and Shippo doesn't get it or when he's scared or tired or...Yes, he is like a younger brother to me. Of course he needs us, but not for the jewel. He needs for protection, for safety, for family.

_Inuyasha..._I think of him. His light hair that shimmers in the sun, his cute dog ears that prick up when he's interested or notices something...His golden eyes that always hold my gaze softy, and that look out for me...His bad temper which I discovered he uses to cover his totally sweet and caring one underneath...Ha, I'm blushing just thinking of him.

"_InuYasha?"_

"_Yeah?"_

"_InuYasha...oh, never mind."_

I blush deeper as that memory replays itself in my head.

"_What is it, Kagome?"_

"_It's stupid—''_

"_I don't care."_

"_Well, okay...InuYasha...do you love me?"_

"_Is this a trick question?"_

I stand up, facing where I last heard the voice coming from. "Naraku...I don't care what you happen to think of my friends! I love them all for their different reasons and...and...I believe and trust in them!"

The mist starts to fade and I breath in and out steadily.

"I told you it was around here, Inuyasha!" A sing-song voice announces loudly.

"No, I told _you_, Miroku, dammit!" A second voice yells back.

I giggle as I hear them arguing.

"Will you two shut up? Look, there she is." Sango's voice sounds faintly amused. "Kagome!"

"Kagome!" Shippo cries out my name in his sweet, small-kid's chime.

"Kagome!" InuYasha runs up to me and I fall into his arms the moment he opens them. "Kagome...are you okay? What happened to you? Are you hurt at all?"

"No." I shake my head before looking up at him seriously. "InuYasha?"

"What's wrong?"

"InuYasha...do you love me?"

He rolls his golden eyes skyward. "What sort of question is that?"

"Please answer it."

"Yeah," he replies, turning his head, embarrassed.

I smile. "Thank you."

"Why the sudden question?" InuYasha asks as we walk towards the others.

I gaze at them. Sango is glaring at Miroku, who is nursing his cheek; Shippo is giggling at the scene, stroking Kirara.

"No reason...I'm just glad I can trust you guys."

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**End**

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**Not perfect, I know, but much better than it was, I hope. I feel better about it now ^_^**

**Thanks to everyone that reviewed it: kittykritik, DarkSacredJewelXoX, Yuuki-chan64 and thelastunicorn. And to anyone that reads or reviews (or both) this fic in the future, thanks to you too!**

**Well, I'll go now. Bye bye! *bows***


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